Adhesive tape for surgical dressings



1958 G. w. JACOBY, JR ,3

ADHESIVE TAPE FOR SURGICAL DRESSINGS Filed Sept. 8. 1953 i INVENTOR. 16504 65 W.- JAcoaxJe.

BY w PICA/E), WATT5/ED6E27DN&M5NENNY A 7'TOPNE Y5 ADHESIVE TAPE FORSURGICAL DRESSINGS George W. Jacoby, Jr., Wooster, Ohio ApplicationSeptember 8, 1953, Serial No. 378,983

1 Claim. (Cl. 128334) This invention relates broadly to adhesive tapefor surgical dressings and more specifically to an organization offabricated strips of such material which are fashioned to facilitate theclosure of a flesh wound or incision without buckling the skin subjacentthe bandadge.

Further objects of the invention reside in the provision of a tapeassembly for use in correcting umbilical hernias in children, forstrapping or binding fractures, and for tractive applications wheretensive control is essential.

Other objects and advantages more or less ancillary to the foregoing,and the manner in which all the various objects are realized, willappear in the following description, which considered in connection withthe accompanying drawings, sets forth the preferred embodiment of theinvention.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the improved tape assembly.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view therethrough, the section beingtaken on a plane indicated by the line 22 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective illustrating the initial application ofthe strips and the position thereof as the edges of a out are beingdrawn together, and

Fig. 4 is a lineal sectional view through the tape assembly and a padcompressively held thereby.

Referring first to Fig. 2, the tape assembly comprises a strap 10 havinga slot 11 in the central portion thereof which is approximatelyone-third the width of the strip and twice the length of its endportions 12. The second member of the assembly comprises a strip 13 ofthe same length as the strip 10 and formed with similar end portions 14.The central section 15 of the second strip is reduced in width to slidefreely through the slot 11, the length of the reduced section beingequal to the length of the slot. One face of each strip is coated withan adhesive of the character customarily used on surgical tape, thegummed face thereof being covered, for purpose of handling, with a sheetor sheets of sized coarse gauze slightly larger than strips 10 and 13.

When the improved tape assembly is used the protective gauze is firstremoved from the strips 10 and 13;

nited States Patent ice then the strip 13 is laced through the slot 11and revolved to position the gummed face of each strip downwardly. Theend portions or tabs 12 and 14 are next held in spaced parallel relationthen pressed down upon the flesh in straddled relation with the incisionI. Tensive effort is next applied to the free ends 12a and 14a of thestrips until the edges of the incision are drawn into intimateengagement with each other, whereupon the free ends of the strips arelowered simultaneously and pressed into adfixed relation upon the upperface of the tabs 12, 1.4 and/or adjacent areas of the flesh. As thelatter operation is performed the narrow bands 16 of the strip 10 andthe center section 15 of the strip 13 will descend scissor fashion overthe incision, or gauze dressing thereover, and adhere thereto, thenarrow band sections facilitating conformation therewith and themovement thereof serving to restrain buckling or wrinkling of the fleshintermediate the tabs 12 and 14.

When the improved tape assembly is used in the treatment of an umbilicalhernia or like malformation, the procedure outlined above is similar,save that, the central section 15 is lowered in advance of the bands 16and tensioned more severely in order to impose a compressive strain uponthe center of the pad. In order to depress a hernia slightly below thesurface level, a cotton ball is placed beneath section 15 as shown inFig. 4.

Although the foregoing description is necessarily of a detailedcharacter, in order that the invention may be completely set forth, itis to be understood that the specific terminology is not intended to berestrictive or confining, and that various rearrangements of parts andmodifications of detail may be resorted to without departing from thescope or spirit of the invention as herein claimed.

What is claimed is:

An adhesive tape assembly for surgical dressings comprising a strip ofadhesive tape having an adhesive coating on the entire surface of oneface thereof, a narrow central section therein and end portions of agreater width, a second strip of adhesive tape having an adhesivecoating on the entire surface of one face thereof having a slot in themedial axis thereof, said slot being of a width equal to the width ofsaid narrow portion of the first strip and'of a length greater than thewidth of the end portions of the first strip, the first strip being inengagement with the slot in the second strip when the first strip isinserted into said slot and then revolved to position both strips intoparallel relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,811,713 Broome June 23, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS 551,713 Germany Apr. 30,1931

